Four contested City Council races on Everett ballot

EVERETT — Four City Council districts across the city of Everett have contested races set to take place in the November election.

City council members serve as Everett’s governing body and serve four-year terms. The position is part-time. Council members are paid $33,372 per year.

District 1

Union organizer Sam Hem and general manager of the Village Theater Erica Weir are seeking the District 1 council seat in the November election.

Sam Hem

Hem, 50, works as a labor leader for the local sheet metal workers union.

His top priorities are public safety, affordable housing, workforce development and improving pedestrian safety.

On public safety, Hem has said the city needs to ensure police, fire and social workers are fully funded to ensure they can do their work.

In regards to addressing homelessness, Hem said his time spent speaking with local housing nonprofits led him to support a “housing first” approach, which focuses on providing no-barrier housing and services to individuals in need.

“When you look at how much money we spend ancillary versus home building, it’s close to the same amount of money anyways,” Hem said. “We pay it on the front end, provide services and integrate people with each other, that brings the community together.”

To improve pedestrian safety, Hem said he would focus on identifying areas where the city could install speed calming measures like raised crosswalks. He acknowledged building the infrastructure city wide would be time-consuming.

“All of these ideas take money too, and we don’t have any,” Hem said. “So the conversation needs to be, what will it take? When can we do it? And we need to prioritize and not ignore certain neighborhoods.”

On the budget, Hem said he would look to find where savings could be made by speaking to workers at the city and listening to their perspective as to where costs could be cut. He also said he would try to encourage development of retail destinations in District 1, a largely residential part of the city. Part of that could come from the city’s new allowance of neighborhood commercial businesses in many parts of Everett, he said.

“I think that’s vital, I think that really creates walkability,” he said.

Hem also said he hopes to increase participation from local neighborhood groups in city politics.

Hem said he was disappointed to hear about the recent closure of a south Everett Fred Meyer, but said the city had taken steps to keep the grocer in the city.

“I don’t know, short of giving that corporation another carrot, what the city could do,” Hem said. “And I don’t think large corporations don’t deserve that many carrots from us.”

As of Monday, he has raised $47,585 in campaign contributions.

Hem has been endorsed by the Snohomish County Democrats, Snohomish County Indivisible, the city’s municipal employees union, firefighters union, the machinists union and the Snohomish and Island County Labor Council. He has also received endorsements from State Reps. Mary Fosse, Juilo Cortes and Brandy Donaghy as well as Everett City Council member Paula Rhyne, among others.

Erica Weir

Weir, 57, is focusing on addressing the city’s budget, addressing homelessness and improving access to housing.

To help balance the city’s budget amid its ongoing structural deficit, Weir said she would attempt to drive up business activity and encourage the use of more public-private partnerships. She also said the city should look back at options presented by a previous study the city commissioned to find creative solutions.

Weir added that if the city did need to go to voters for a property tax levy lid lift, the process should be more transparent about what the exact funding is needed for.

On housing, Weir said the city should incentivize new housing while ensuring the new construction also benefits existing communities. To address homelessness, behavioral health and drug challenges, she said care providers need to make sure individuals who are ready for support and recovery have access to resources.

“When people are ready to get help, there needs to be a place for them to go immediately,” Weir said. “There’s just not enough beds, and putting people on a wait list for a month and a half when they’re ready to get clean is not going to work.”

On public safety, Weir has said the city should continue to fully fund fire and police departments while increasing the number of social workers and bringing back the city’s recently cut park rangers program.

Weir said she was disappointed to hear of the Fred Meyer closure as it will leave a food and resource desert for residents in the area.

“We can reprimand them, we can send them letters saying we don’t agree with what they’re doing, but money talks,” Weir said. “And it seems to run things far more than we would like to admit it does.”

In response to the closure, Weir said she would try and focus on bringing in smaller, community-based retailers that had more incentive to stay long-term.

As of Friday, she has raised $20,391 in campaign contributions.

Weir has been endorsed by the Alliance for Gun Responsibility and the Washington Association of General Contractors. She has also been endorsed by State Sen. June Robinson, Everett City Council member Judy Tuohy and former Everett City Council members Paul Roberts, among others.

District 2

Incumbent Paula Rhyne, a legislative assistant, is facing off against Ryan Crowther, the head of the Everett Music Initiative.

Paula Rhyne

Rhyne, 45, is a legislative aide to Snohomish County Council member Megan Dunn and was elected to the Everett City Council in 2021. Her top priorities are affordability, livability and public safety.

To address the city’s budget challenges, Rhyne said she hopes to continue discussions on how to raise revenues over the next year. She said she would support going to voters with targeted levy lid lifts that would fund specific services like parks or libraries.

“Everything at the city is cut so down to the bone,” she said. “There’s nothing left frivolous that we could cut.”

In regards to the Fred Meyer closure, Rhyne said she would work with the city to incentivize property owners to put empty big box stores to productive use. Ideas floated at a recent Parks and Built Environment Committee meeting included a possible vacancy tax for big-box stores or a ban on anti-competitive covenants.

“I think we can find a silver lining if we put our heads together and get the right people at the table,” Rhyne said.

On public safety, Rhyne has advocated for a holistic approach to curbing crime, having voted for Everett’s Flock cameras and drone programs while also supporting the city’s alternative response teams and new mobile opioid treatment units. She’s also in favor of crime prevention through environmental design, like brightening streetlights and cleaning streets.

Crime rates in Everett are falling. In 2024, crime was at its lowest level in the city since 2015, FBI data shows.

Rhyne also has a focus on improving housing affordability, and has previously touted her work on the city’s comprehensive plan periodic update and its inclusionary zoning provision as important steps in the right direction. She hopes that state legislators can address ongoing issues in Washington surrounding condominium development to get more ownership opportunities.

Rhyne has been endorsed by the Snohomish County Democrats, Everett’s police, fire and municipal employees unions, and the Snohomish and Island County Labor Council. She has also been endorsed by Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, State Sens. Marko Liias and John Lovick, Snohomish County Council member Strom Peterson, Everett City Council members Mary Fosse, Liz Vogeli and Don Schwab as well as Snohomish County Sheriff Susanna Johnson, among others.

As of Monday, she has raised $42,484 in campaign contributions.

Ryan Crowther

Crowther, 41, is the head of the local nonprofit Everett Music Initiative, the president of the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce and the president of the Everett Public Facilities District board of directors.

His top priorities are improving public safety and driving economic development.

On the city budget, Crowther said the city needs to get more creative ways to generate revenue and spend its money on services that will lead to a return on its investment, like increasing staffing in permitting, planning and economic development departments.

Crowther said that economic development in the city is not where it needs to be. He hopes to use marketing to attract visitors to downtown Everett and build the city’s brand.

“Continuing to build awareness as a destination will not only bring new visitation, but it’s also going to bring new investment,” he said. “That new investment is the kind of revenue generation that I think needs to happen to help the city’s finances rebuild.”

On public safety, Crowther has advocated for renewing the city’s “no sit, no lie” buffer zones and expanding the city’s mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

In regards to the Fred Meyer closure, Crowther said he was not privy to the conversations that led to the closure, but said the city had done work to try and keep the store open.

“I think some of this is very much about public safety, and some of these things are just outside of a city’s ability to really make an impact,” he said.

To address the closure, Crowther said he would maintain the city’s buffer zones and talk with business owners to see how their needs have changed. He opposed the idea of implementing a vacancy tax for big-box stores.

“If the demand is there, properties like that will get eaten up,” Crowther said. “We just have to continue doing more of the good things the city is doing to increase the demand, and interest will be there. To me, public safety is a root of the problem, and that’s where our time and efforts can be spent.”

Crowther has been endorsed by Everett’s police union and local longshore union, as well as the Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors. He has also received endorsements from State Rep. Julio Cortes, Snohomish County Council member Jared Mead and Everett City Council members Judy Touhy, Scott Bader and Ben Zarlingo, among others.

As of Monday, he has raised $40,383 in campaign contributions.

District 3

Political newcomer Marcus Nunez is facing off against one-term incumbent Don Schwab.

Don Schwab

Schwab, 59, works for an internet company and previously spent decades as an Everett firefighter. He was first elected to the City Council in 2021.

His top priorities include public safety, improving housing affordability, addressing the city’s budget and increasing engagement with local neighborhood groups.

To improve public safety, Schwab said he would focus on improving staffing to add to traffic enforcement units on the police force. He supports the city’s use of Flock drones and safety cameras.

“It’s one way we can manage the costs on the enforcement side and use our staff for the relational and outreach,” he said. “The camera can take a picture of a license plate and find a person, but we need a police officer to manage that engagement part with the neighborhoods.”

In the future, Schwab also said the city’s fire stations should be upgraded to include needed amenities like gender-neutral restrooms. He also said the city should invest in a new fire and paramedic training facility, possibly in partnership with Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and Everett Community College.

In regards to the budget, Schwab said the city either needs to find services to cut or increase taxes, he said. He said he’d prefer to see the city manage programs like its transit system, libraries and firefighters rather than regionalizing services as he feels Everett is managing the programs well, but he’s open to the possibility of joining regional services if voters go that route.

“My preference is a moderate growth in both services and taxes, I would like the revenue to reflect the level of service,” Schwab said. “I think we know we got to the point where we’re going to have to cut services, and I don’t want to cut anymore. But I’ll support the will of the community. If they send a strong message that they don’t want any more taxes, then we have to cut in 2027.”

His preference would be to go back to the voters with a very clear and specific ask to fund services, he said, rather than pulling on other possible levers the city could use to raise revenue, like an increase in business and occupation taxes or car tabs.

In regards to housing, Schwab said he would listen to builders as to what incentives would help them create more units, as well as leveraging public-private partnerships. He also hoped to work with state representatives to amend laws to encourage condominium construction.

Schwab also said encouraging mixed-use “urban villages” centered around transit could encourage more building, but maintained that some low-density homes should still be available to ensure there’s a range of available housing options.

“We definitely have a role in this, but it is limited. We need to keep working with other stakeholders,” Schwab said. “There are a lot of other regional components that are always out of our hands, of course, but it’s no excuse. We need to do our part.”

Schwab supports constructing the downtown stadium project as he sees it as a public benefit and a possible economic boost to the city. He said Everett has minimized its risk through public-private partnerships to keeps costs down.

Another priority of his, he said, is to encourage people to attend more neighborhood meetings to increase community engagement.

As of Monday, Schwab has raised $16,940 in campaign contributions.

He has been endorsed by Everett’s police, fire, municipal employees and transit unions, along with the Snohomish and Island County Labor Council. Schwab has also received endorsements from Everett City Council members Ben Zarlingo, Judy Touhy, Scott Bader and Paula Rhyne, along with Snohomish County Council members Nate Nehring and Jared Mead, among others.

Marcus Nunez

Nunez, 23, works in security. His top priorities are improving city parks and addressing homelessness.

One of his main goals is to reinstate the city’s park rangers program that was removed due to cuts made to balance the 2025 budget. To find the money to reinstate the program, Nunez said he would “take a deeper dive” into the city budget to find where to make cuts.

“There are probably things that we’re spending a lot of money on, and we don’t really need to be spending that kind of money on it,” he said.

To improve public safety, Nunez said he would encourage the city to continue its Flock safety camera and drone programs, as well as expand its red light camera system. He said expanding the red light cameras could also be a factor toward generating more revenue for the city.

On housing, Nunez proposed turning city-owned open spaces into developable land to construct small prefabricated homes for individuals to live in. To address homelessness, he said he would try to work with Snohomish County to expand its Adult Recovery Court, which allows individuals to participate in treatment services as an alternative to serving jail time. He said the city could get “better results out of it” if Everett used the program as “more of a resource than an alternative to imprisonment,” Nunez said.

In regards the downtown stadium, Nunez said he had originally opposed it, but the additional private investment and ability to bring in a soccer team made the project more appealing. He still has questions over downtown parking and the effects it may have on nearby businesses, he said.

Nunez has not reported any campaign contributions and his campaign website lists no endorsements.

District 4

Engineer Luis Burbano is facing off against construction manager Alan Rubio for the District 4 seat.

Luis Burbano

Burbano, 41, is an electrical engineer. He previously served on a community advisory board advising Sound Transit over its Everett Link light rail extension.

His focus is on improving quality of life, preventing displacement from Link light rail’s arrival in south Everett, improving road safety and addressing the city’s budget challenges.

The closure of the south Everett Fred Meyer, located in District 4, will affect the walkability of the area and contribute to Casino Road becoming a food desert, Burbano said.

The city needs to consider the idea of operating city-owned nonprofit grocery stores, he said, to serve the local community. He also said the area around Casino Road and Evergreen Way should be revitalized and made more walkable.

“If we want to live in a really affordable community, if we want to have housing and we want to be honest about housing people, then we need to make the environment walkable,” Burbano said. “We need to make the environment safe, we need to fix our roads and we need to encourage small businesses to move in.”

To improve the safety of roads, Burbano advocated for adding protected bicycle lanes and pedestrian crosswalks, as well as reducing the number of lanes and adding concrete medians.

To address the city’s budget and housing affordability, Burbano said he would like to see the Walter E. Hall golf course redeveloped into affordable housing, as the city’s two golf courses provide negligible revenue, he said. Combined, the city’s two golf courses provide the city with about $200,000 a year in profit.

On a broader scale, Burbano said he hopes to encourage Everett employers to have their employees live within city limits, not just for the revenue benefits but also to address transportation challenges and improve the liveliness of the city. He proposed doing so by giving tax breaks to employers for employees living close to jobs, reopening the Forest Park swimming pool and making the city more fun to live in with new events, particularly for the Latino community.

“That will allow the money to stay in our town, instead of having people making money here and taking their paychecks to support businesses somewhere else,” Burbano said.

On public safety, Burbano has said he will attempt to address crime by targeting the root causes of addiction and poverty. He also supports expanding the city’s embedded social worker program.

Burbano has been endorsed by the Snohomish County Democrats, the city’s local iron workers and electrical workers unions and the Snohomish and Island County Labor Council. He’s also received endorsements from State Sens. John Lovick and June Robinson, State Reps. Julio Cortes and April Berg, and Snohomish County Council member Megan Dunn, among others.

As of Monday, Burbano has raised $8,121 in campaign contributions.

Alan Rubio

Rubio, 34, is a manager at a construction company. In 2023, he unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Alderwood Water and Wastewater District Board of Commissioners.

His top priorities include public safety and addressing the city’s budget challenges.

On the budget, Rubio has said the city needs to expand public-private partnerships and look for creative ways to generate revenue. He said he would push for a performance audit to find programs the city could cut.

His policy platform said he would advocate for lowering taxes. During a candidate forum, Rubio was the only city council candidate to promise he would not vote to send a levy lid lift to voters during his time in office.

Rubio said he the closure of Fred Meyer was “heartbreaking.”

“While the city worked hard to improve safety and engagement in the area, the decision ultimately came down to corporate factors beyond local control,” Rubio wrote in an email.

He said he would respond by working to make it easier for businesses to stay in the city by giving fiscal incentives, cutting back on regulations and improving communications with retail stores.

On housing, Rubio said he would cut back on regulations and try to streamline permitting as ways to incentivize more housing construction, as well as providing more first-time homebuyer assistance.

Rubio also said he wants to increase coordination with local nonprofits to expand access to programs that teach English and provide job training.

To improve public safety, Rubio has said he would focus on hiring more police through additional incentives like improved benefits and increased vacation time.

Rubio has been endorsed by Everett’s police and fire unions, as well as the local machinists union. He’s also received endorsements from Everett City Council members Scott Bader and Ben Zarlingo, as well as Marysville City Council Peter Condyles, among others.

As of Monday, Rubio has raised $21,911 in campaign contributions.

District 5

Incumbent city council member Ben Zarlingo is running unopposed for the District 5 seat.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.